A. SMS uses several component processes. One such process, SMS_SQL_MONITOR, monitors the SMS 2.0 site database on a Microsoft SQL Server computer for changes and notifies affected components when a change occurs. When a change to the database occurs, SMS_SQL_MONITOR writes a file to the related SMS inbox or notifies the component by named pipe. SMS_SQL_MONITOR also performs periodic database maintenance. After you install and configure SMS in some installations, the SMS_SQL_MONITOR process can end up in an error state that can result in the system displaying many 601 error messages, as this figure shows.
To work around this error state, you should manually run the SQL command described in the error message by performing the following steps:
- Start the SQL Query Analyzer (go to Start, Programs, Microsoft SQL Server, and click Query Analyzer).
- Select the database server that SMS is using, enter any needed logon credentials, then click OK.
- In the query window, type
exec sp_addextendedproc 'xp_SMS_notification','smsxp.dll'
to resolve the SMS_SQL_MONITOR error.
After you resolve the error, you'll want to ensure that the account that SMS uses for database connectivity has execute (EXEC) permissions for the extended procedure you just created by performing the following steps:
- Start the Enterprise Manager (go to Start, Programs, Microsoft SQL Server, and click Enterprise Manager).
- Select the Extended Stored Procedures for the master database (from within Enterprise Manager, go to Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server Group; select the name of the database server; select Databases, master, Extended Stored Procedures).
- Scroll down to xp_SMS_notification, then right-click its entry and select Properties from the context menu.
- Click Permissions, ensure that the account that SMS uses for database connectivity has the EXEC permission, then click OK.
